


Epaulettes

by AMarguerite



Series: A Monstrous Regiment [5]
Category: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen, Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-11-13 17:32:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18035801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMarguerite/pseuds/AMarguerite
Summary: Elizabeth Bennet joins the Aerial Corps.





	Epaulettes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [beauteouslou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beauteouslou/gifts).



Lizzy thought she would be punished for climbing up on Aunt Elizabeth's dragon, Wollstonecraft. And, if not for that, for going on a flight when she was supposed to be helping Jane mind Mary and Kitty.

But instead, her mother and Aunt Elizabeth took Lizzy to a seamstress by the covert and got Lizzy measured for a set of clothes like Aunt Elizabeth’s as a _reward_.

Lizzy was at first shocked that she was allowed to get trowsers but realized that it was probably because she was always tearing her dresses and getting her petticoats muddy. The Lucas boys and the Golding boys all wore trowsers when they were scrambling about. Now Lizzy could scramble without worrying about her skirts.

She was very pleased.

Especially since all her sisters were at Uncle Gardiner’s townhouse. It was just her, and her mother, and Aunt Elizabeth. This was a treat just for  _Lizzy,_  that she did not have to share with anyone else. 

Besides, she very much liked Aunt Elizabeth’s coat. It was cut like one of Papa’s and had so many useful pockets and was decorated so nicely. Sadly, Lizzy was not allowed to have her favorite decoration, the gold braid on her shoulders.

“Not yet, any road,” said Aunt Elizabeth, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet, as the seamstress called out Lizzy’s measurements to her assistant. “You shall have a set of epaulettes of your own when you are full grown.”

“I am six and eleven twelfths,” protested Lizzy. “I  _am_ full grown.”

Aunt Elizabeth laughed and pointed to all the gold braid at her shoulders. “Lizzy, my love, do you know what these mean?”

Lizzy was confused. She had no idea clothes  _meant_ things. She tried to think. “That... you need to keep your shoulders warm. And a shawl would fall off when flying.”

Lizzy’s mother got the vexed look she always did before saying that Lizzy was being impertinent and to mind her manners, but Aunt Elizabeth laughed before Lizzy could be scolded. 

“There is a logic to that,” said Aunt Elizabeth. “A shawl would fall off. But, dear heart, these epaulettes mean I am Wollstonecraft’s captain. You shall have them when you are her captain, but that will not be for many years yet.”

“When  _I_ am Wollstonecraft’s captain?” Lizzy repeated doubtfully.

“Yes,” said her mother, looking pleased with Lizzy. This almost never happened. Lizzy gaped at her mother.

“Step down please,” said the seamstress. “I’ve got some ready-mades that’ll do until I can get these finished. Shall I bring them out, Captain Gardiner?”

“Pray do,” said Aunt Elizabeth. “My niece is almost seven; I want to get her accustomed to the uniform before she starts as a runner.”

Lizzy looked in confused from her aunt to her mother.

Her mother pulled Lizzy away and taking her by both hands, said, “Lizzy, child, you are too wild to make anyone a good wife--”

“I do not wish to marry,” Lizzy said defensively. “Boys are disgusting. They do not wash themselves unless they are forced, and all the Gouldings boys eat their bogeys. And the Lucas boys are always saying that Jane and Charlotte and I cannot climb trees as well as they do, or jump as high, and I am much better at  _both_ than anyone else in Meryton.”

“You do take after me, don’t you?” said Aunt Elizabeth, fondly. “Did you bloody some boy’s nose when he said you couldn’t climb as well as he could?”

Lizzy wasn’t sure she should admit to it. 

Lizzy’s mother looked sour and said, "Oh she certainly has, sister,” before Lizzy could decide.

Aunt Elizabeth laughed heartily. 

“Try these on, young miss,” said the seamstress, coming out with a stack of clothes. “Behind the screen here please-- there we are.”

Lizzy took off her apron, gown, and shift. She put on the shirt first, which was like a shift, but not quite as long at the bottom, though much longer at the sleeves, and then the trowsers. It was at that point Lizzy realized she ought to have taken her boots off first, but oh well. She managed to get her feet through. Aunt Elizabeth helped her put on a waistcoat just like one of Papa’s, and to tie a neckcloth, and then helped her into a coat. 

When Lizzy looked at herself in the mirror, standing next to Aunt Elizabeth, she felt fine as fivepence. She felt a little naked not having a skirt, but John Lucas, when he’d been breeched, had complained only for a month before he got used to wearing trowsers instead of a child’s gown. Lizzy thought she would get used to not wearing skirts much faster than  _John Lucas_ , who didn’t even know his times tables yet. Lizzy had learned all hers, up to the tens, in a month.

“How fine you look,” Aunt Elizabeth said proudly. “Doesn’t the uniform suit her, Fanny?”

Lizzy’s mother looked both happy and sad, which Lizzy did not understand. “Lizzy, do you understand that you are going to grow up to be like your aunt Elizabeth instead of like your mama?”

Lizzy privately and meanly thought, ‘That’s good.’ 

“You will not marry, Miss Lizzy-- which is a great blessing, for let me tell you, I cannot think of any man who wants a wife who is forever running and jumping and getting covered in mud as you do. You are going to live with your Aunt Elizabeth now, and one day, you will be a dragon captain like she is.”

“A what?” Lizzy asked, frowning.

“You will climb, and jump, and run, and fight,” said Aunt Elizabeth. “And fly on Wollstonecraft every day.” 

“And have epaulettes,” Lizzy said, pleased to have remembered the word. She liked new words. She liked collecting them, the way that Mary liked collecting bugs. 

“Exactly,” said Aunt Elizabeth. “ _And_ men will have to obey you, for you will be a commanding officer, and it will be their duty to do as you say.”

Lizzy examined her reflection in the mirror, and felt very pleased. “I think I will very much like being a dragon captain.” 


End file.
